Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook is now slated to launch on April 6. And at $999 with a premium metal construction, this ultra-portable laptop has the chops to take on Apple’s newly refreshed MacBook Air. Like the MacBook Air, Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook utilizes a 13.3-inch display and comes with a sleek design, but the similarities between the laptops largely end there.
The star of the Galaxy Chromebook is its gorgeous screen, which is mounted on a 360-degree hinge to allow the device to convert between classic laptop form and tablet mode and everything in between. Here, you’re getting a vibrant 4K UHD AMOLED display. Additionally, the Galaxy Chromebook will be the first Chrome OS device to support Ambient EQ, allowing the software to tune the display’s white balance and color temperature for optimal viewing.
And unlike the MacBook Air, the Galaxy Chromebook’s 4K display is touchscreen-enabled, meaning you can either interact with Chrome OS or Android apps using the backlit keyboard and trackpad or by touching the display. The touchscreen also supports Samsung’s built-in S Pen, so you’ll also be able to jot notes, annotate documents, or draw on the display.
Powering the whole setup is, according to Best Buy’s pre-order listing, an Intel 10th-gen quad-core Core i5-10210U processor, which surprisingly is a stronger CPU than the more energy-efficient Y-series chip used by Apple on the MacBook Air. You’ll also get Intel’s integrated UHD graphics with the 10th-gen processor. The Galaxy Chromebook comes with 8GB of memory and a 256GB solid-state drive.
There are two USB-C ports — the MacBook Air edges ahead of the Galaxy Chromebook with its faster Thunderbolt 3 port — a built-in fingerprint scanner, microSD card slot, and microphone jack on the 0.4-inch thick body. The whole package weighs 2.29 pounds, which is lighter than the 2.75-pound Air. You can also use the 1-megapixel webcam built into the display’s slim bezels to take video calls, or you can use the 8-megapixel camera on the keyboard deck to capture photos when using the Galaxy Chromebook as a tablet.
Best Buy has two color variants available on the Galaxy Chromebook. Business users will want to stick with the more subdued Mercury Gray color, but if you need something splashier, the Fiesta Red is definitely eye-catching. Samsung also has a sign-up page on its website, according to The Verge.
At its premium price, the Galaxy Chromebook will compete against upgraded configurations of Google’s Pixel Slate as well as the Pixelbook.